Academy coach Sandile Ngcobo leads race to succeed Neil Powell as new Blitzboks coach

SA Sevens Academy head coach and former Sevens international Sandile Ngcobo is the leading candidate to replace Neil Powell as Blitzboks head coach, Sport24 can reveal.

According to information reaching the publication, the former Lions and Valke scrumhalf is the hot candidate for the job Powell vacated at the end of the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town last weekend.

Sport24 spoke to three sources, including a high-ranking SA Rugby official, who asked not to be named or quoted to protect their identity, who all confirmed the name Sandile Ngcobo.

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Other names that were in the mix for the position included Powell's assistant coach Renfred Dazel, as well as Women's Sevens head coach Paul Delport, both established former Sevens internationals.

SA Rugby is expected to announce Powell's successor this week.

Powell, meanwhile, will assume the role of Sharks director of rugby on a full-time basis after being appointed by the union as early as last year, initially as their defence coach, before being promoted to the top job this year.

Ngcobo retired from playing rugby aged just 22 after a series of injuries curtailed his career, which resulted in him falling out of love with the sport.

However, current SA Sevens high-performance manager Marius Schoeman and Powell drafted Ngcobo into the Academy setup in 2015, where he later became strength and conditioning coach before becoming head coach.

In between, though, Ngcobo, nicknamed "Stix", won two back-to-back World Rugby Sevens Series titles under Powell in 2016 and 2017, capping his playing career in a spectacular way.

Powell stepped down with three world titles in all, adding to